Rockies Place Tyler Chatwood On 10-Day DL; Activate Ian Desmond

The Rockies have placed right-hander Tyler Chatwood on the 10-day DL with a right calf strain, and activated first baseman/outfielder Ian Desmond in a corresponding move.

Chatwood threw just 19 pitches Saturday before being removed from his start due to the injury. Chatwood has a 4.74 ERA, 7.36 K/9 and 56% ground-ball rate over 106 1/3 IP for Colorado this season, as his usual grounder-heavy attack has been hampered by a lack of control (5.08 BB/9 and a league-high 60 walks) and a spike in home runs allowed — 22.1% of Chatwood’s fly balls allowed have left the yard.

As the one veteran arm in the Rockies rotation, Chatwood’s absence will tax a pitching staff that is already seeing some juggling of young arms. Kyle Freeland is being temporarily removed from the starting five in order to protect his arm, leaving the Rockies with Jon Gray, German Marquez, Jeff Hoffman and Antonio Senzatela comprising the rotation. Tyler Anderson and Chad Bettis could provide reinforcements in late July and late August, respectively, though you would expect Colorado to explore some starting pitching options before the trade deadline. Pitching has long been an issue at Coors Field, though Rockies starters have held their ground this season with a cumulative 6.8 fWAR (11th in baseball) and 4.68 ERA (17th in baseball).

Desmond was placed on the DL with a calf strain of his own on July 3, his second DL stint of the season after suffering a hand fracture during Spring Training. It’s fair to say that the injuries have kept Desmond from really getting on track during his first season in Colorado, as the veteran has hit only .283/.321/.388 over 236 PA this year.